La primogenita

A family saga about the love, rebellion, and resilience of mothers and daughters whose lives intersect with those of real-life women who altered the history of Italy.

Women united by flower names, a pendant passed on through generations, and the dream of emancipation and self-fulfillment.

Rome, 1821. At the first light of dawn, young Gelsomina, cast out by her family because she is unmarried, dies giving birth to a girl. Her final wishes are that her daughter should have a charm that belonged to her father and the name of a flower. The medallion is passed on from mother to daughter, as is the tradition of the flower name. From Gelsomina’s daughter Ortensia, the Red Cross nurse in the entourage of Cristina Trivulzio di Belgioso, to Erica, one of history’s first women doctors to specialise in paediatrics. To Iris, who discovers the family history and the origin of the famous charm Gelsomina was given by a painter who was in love with her, and how his love token became an admonishment to all her descendants: to bloom against all adversity. To fight for your dreams and not wait for a man to make them come true.